Zephyair

1st chapter

A buzzing noise filled her sensitive ears. She rolled over in her, the alarm clock on the bedside table flashed seven o’clock. "It’s too early to get up," she grumbled, as she shut off the annoying alarm.

Showered and dressed, she was about to brush her hair when she looked out the bathroom window. The black sun had risen past the horizon, a giant black balloon floating on the sea of blood that once was the sky.

She moved her hands to her face to remove the glasses she used to wear and weren’t there. "I forgot that I don’t need them anymore," she whispered to herself as she wiped the steam of the mirror. There was no reflection looking back at her. She laughed to herself. She, Zephyair Avalon, had not had a reflection for almost two months now. "I probably won’t ever have one again," she said, as she brushed her waist long black hair. Before she wouldn’t have let her hair grow any length past her neck. She put the brush down and walked into the kitchen.

"Hi, Zeph," her younger sister Willow said.

"Hello, Will," she replied. Willow was two years younger than her fourteen year old sister. She had short brown hair that always covered one of her green eyes. She pushed by Zephyair and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Zephyair walked over to the fridge and opened the door, letting the cooler air flow over her before reaching in and grabbing a bag of blood that normally would have been used in a transfusion. She grabbed a straw and popped it in, drinking it slowly, little sips at a time.

Zephyair’s grandmother walked into the kitchen. She grabbed the bread and put it in the toaster. She looked at Zephyair and the bag in her hands. "How can you drink that?" she asked, shaking her head slowly.

"I pretend its tomato juice," she answered.

"But you never liked tomato juice."

"Cherry juice then."

Her grandmother laughed and looked out the kitchen window to the sky. Her face became solemn. "I hate the sky now. I wish it were still blue."

Zephyair had known about her grandma’s wish for blue sky for awhile. It was a common wish. A lot of people wanted the sky back to normal.

"If the sky was blue again then it would be a bruise," she said, attempting to lighten the mood.

"A bruise?"

"Yeah, the sky would be blue and the sun would be black still. Black and blue. Bruise colours," she explained.

Her grandmother caught onto the joke after a moments thought. She laughed. Zephyair turned to leave the room, but she turned around. "Your toast is gonna pop soon."

She was already in the living room when she heard the toaster pop and her grandmother jump, even though she was warned.

The next hour was spent fussing around. Zephyair was hurrying around, trying to remember everything needed for high school. Although it was the beginning of October she had been caught forgetting things.

She went outside to wait for the bus. Zephyair, Willow, and their grandparents lived about twenty minutes outside Shore City, which was situated on the banks of Long Shore Lake. The zombies had become a big problem and the ghouls even bigger, so a wall was built with gates at every entrance and exit.

The house where they lived and a triple layer of chain link fence due to zombies. Zephyair walked up the drive-way near the gate to check and see if any zombies had taken interest in the building.

"None. Good," she said. A shiver went up her spine. The chilled October air forced her to run back inside for a heavier sweater. When she caught back outside she saw Willow getting on the bus to go to her school which was in the opposite direction of Shore City. It was a small school that Zephyair too had attended before graduating.

Her bus was never far behind Willow’s and she only had to wait a couple minutes before the her bus roared to a stop just outside the gate. She hopped onto the bus and found herself sitting in the seat they always kept empty for her. They’re were only ten vampire in Shore City and She was the only one to attend Shore Secondary School. There would have been two, if the other hadn’t graduated the year before. It wouldn’t have made much a difference, the way Zephyair had been revealed as a vampire to the public wasn’t a way someone would appreciate.

It happened at lunch first day of high school. Zephyair had pulled out her water bottle that was filled with the only thing she could drink or eat. Her friend Lloyd thought it was tomato Juice which was his favorite drink and took it from her. The taste of it told him it wasn’t tomato juice and the shock on her face confirmed his suspicions. The whole incident caused more than half cafeteria to move as far away from her as possible and even though ut had been a month since then , people still kept their distance.

Zephyair shook her head. She didn’t want to remember that right now. She put her skull decorated headphones over her ears and turned on her music, staring out the window. Before the incident, people thought she’d gone for a ful body cosmetic procedure and started wearing colored contacts that changed her once yellow eyes to crimson red.

She looked out the window. A lone zombie, perhaps a hundred feet ahead of the bus ambled across the road. The distance closed in and it was smashed apart by the bus’s modified front. Zephyair was the last on and so the went straight to the main gate and after getting the okay, headed to the school, which was just steps away from Long Shore Lake. The bus stopped.

Zephyair placed her headphones around her neck, grabbed her back pack off the seat and slung it over her shoulder. She stood up to wait in line to get off, or she would have if everybody else hadn’t moved out of the ay for her. They always did that. She glared at them with her crimson eyes and they shrank back. She jumped the last step and walked into the main hall of the school where Aya greeted her.

Aya’s family had lived out near the same area as Zephyair’s, but due to the zombies thye had moved into the city as a lot of people had done. Aya had been Zephyair’s friend for what seemed like forever. She had black hair that was a little past her shoulders and her bangs were always dyed some bright, neon color. Today they were lime green and clashed with her aqua blue eyes.

"Hey, Zeph," she said.

"Hello, Aya," Zephyair replied, smiling so her fangs showed. The few people who could see, shivered.

"Come on. If you don’t hurry up we’re gonna miss class. All the buses were running late today," she said.

"Really? I didn’t notice."

"Well, they were. Now let’s go."

"Right."

The first half of the day went by without any problems. Then lunch came. As usual Aya and Zephyair met up with Aven and Lloyd. Aven was tall with short hair that was dyed electric blue and his eyes were like sapphires. Lloyd was almost the opposite. He was short with light brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail and his eyes were yellow. The same shade as Zephyair’s before she became a vampire.

The four never went to the cafeteria anymore. Zephyair couldn’t stand the stares. Instead they stayed in the halls, that weren’t restricted during lunch, or went outside and sat on the bleachers. They went outside, exchanging plans for the weekend .Every Friday was the same and the arguments usually ended with the same result. The four going to Aya’s or Lloyd’s house for awhile.

Aven, though, wanted something different this time. "I live closest to the beach," he argued.

"Its October, Aven," Aya complained. "Much too cold for swimming."

"True. Oh, and my parents are kind of.... ‘Anti-Vamp’," said Aven, looking over to Zephyair apologetically. "No offence."

"None take," she said. "Its their opinion not yours."

He sighed, "Once more were forced to go to Aya’s."

"Forced! Oh, come on. At least Zephyair is completely welcomed at my place," Aya said, hugging Zephyair closely. "She’s like the daughter they never had."

"Are you not including yourself?" Zephyair asked.

"Okay, second."

They sky became dark and Lloyd looked up just in time to get a raindrop in the eye.

"Why does it always rain on our parade?" he grumbled, as they hurried inside.

The next two periods went by fast. Zephyair used her super vampire speed to copy down the work on the board for both her and Aya, since she was slow and her writing messy. The four friends met up again in the library, when classes were over. The rain still poured and with it the occasional thunder made it worse.

Aven leaned back in his chair so it had only two legs on the floor.

"You shouldn’t do that," Zephyair warned.

"It’ll be fine," he said disregarding her concern.

"Not with 'him' being bored." She pointed to Lloyd.

They knew Lloyd to be very evil when he was bored and this was no exception.

He poked Aven in the stomach, making him lurch forward. The chair, by force of gravity, made it come forward too, and he smashed his head on the table in front of him.

Lloyd started to laugh, Aya rushed over too Aven, and the librarian looked at them and said "Quiet."

Aven pressed his hand against his forehead. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Lloyd your dead. Ow. Ow," he said as Aya managed to pry his hand away to see if he was alright. A small trickle of blood ran down his face. Lloyd was still roaring with laughter and Aya began to force Aven to see the school nurse.

Zephyair gripped the table. It almost seemed as if her knuckles beneath her fishnet gloves were going to burst. Her eyes grew wide as the smell of Aven’s blood filled her nose.

He finally left to get his head checked. Aya looked at Zephyair, then made a grab for her back pack. She found the water bottle, opened it and put it in front of Zephyair.

She grabbed it and emptied the bottle of its contents. She placed it on the table.

"I’m sorry guys. I haven’t really gotten used to the smell yet," she said.

"It’s okay. Hey, look it stopped raining. Let’s go outside," said Aya changing the subject.

Three left the library and went outside. Not long after Aven joined them outside, walked up to Lloyd. He kicked him in the shin several times.

The buses arrived and Aya left, walking one way and so did Aven walking another.

Lloyd headed for one bus, while Zephyair walked over to another one. Her usually stop on the bus was empty.

Zephyair closed the gate and turning, walking briskly. She stopped. Something was wrong. She sensed, felt it. Breaking into a run, she came to the back door. It swung inward on a hinge.

The smell was like walking into a brick wall. Death, decay, and rotting flesh assaulted her nose.

‘A ghoul,’ she thought. ‘The only thing that smells like this and could break down a door.’

She slid her back pack off her shoulders and walked slowly and cautiously into the living room.

On the floor, her grandmother lie face down in a pool of blood. The scent made her stomach growl but she resisted it because of her most recent drink.

Behind her, something moved. She spun around. A wolf, or, what would have been a wolf if it hadn’t have been attacked be zombies stood in front of her. Blood and mud matted it’s mangy coat. Saliva dripped from it mouth as it gave a growl deep from within it’s chest. It’s fang covered in blood.

Zephyair unconsciously move into a offensive position and hissed. Her vampire instincts telling her it was dangerous.

A yellow school bus stopped outside the gate outside. Zephyair saw it through the corners of her eyes. Willow stepped out and walked around the house, not knowing what was going on inside.

The ghoul charge forward. Zephyair’s hands shot out and grabbed them. It snapped at her but she held firm.

Willow screamed and the ghoul changed targets. It turned for Willow, but Zephyair grabbed it by the tail. She pulled back sharply. ‘I’m not gonna let you live,’ she thought. To her sister she said, "Get the phone. Call somebody. Anybody!" Her sister ran to phone.

Zephyair heard the pressing of buttons. She pulled harder on the ghouls and it turned around to snap at her. She pulled again this time, though, pulling the tail right of. Blood spurted from the wound. It howled in pain and she grabbed it’s jaws and pulled down sharply on it’s lower jaw, tearing it out of it’s socket.

"Heh," she laughed lightly, twisting the ghoul’s head. It’s neck crack loudly and the thing collapsed in a heap.

Willow walked in and gasped. She saw Zephyair’s hands. "You might want too wash those,"he said.

Zephyair looked down at them. "Yeah, I might." She walked to the kitchen sink and turned on the water. She let the water run over her hands and fishnet gloves. The water in the sink turned red.

Sirens sounded. Willow had called the cops. Another truck drove in, their grandfather. The sister were forced out so the cops could investigate. Willow was taken to an ambulance to be examined, while Zephyair was questioned by a short, fat man with a sandy mustache and balding head.

"What happened?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"I’d just gotten home from school and went to go inside when I saw the door busted. I could smell blood and moved into the living room. I found my grandmother lying on the floor," she answered.

"Smelled?"

"I’m a vampire."

"Oh... So what about the ghoul?"

"It was behind me and I heard it beforeI saw it."

"How did it end up dead?"

"Is it a crime to kill a ghoul?"

"No, but I’m asking the questions here."

"Okay, keep asking."

"Did it attack you directly?"

"It tried." The investigator looked at Zephyair in disbelief. He studied her hands, there was still blood on them.

"You tried to wash your hands."

"I’m not gonna walk around with blood on my hands."

"I’m going to need a sample. Just in case."

"Whatever." He took out a swap and wiped the blood from her right hand.

That night Willow, Zephyiar and their grandfather stayed at a hotel. The news, both on TV and the radio had the story. It bothered Zephyair on how much publicity it was getting.

She couldn’t sleep that night, so instead she went outside on the small patio that came with the room. She looked up at the moon. It was as red as the sun was during the day. The sky was black, as it should be at night. Though the stars were brighter they remained the normal little bright lights in the sky.

In the cold October air, Zephyair could see her breath. ‘Stupid Canadian winter weather,’ she thought. She never did like winter or the cold, so she went back inside where it was warm. "So tired," she grumbled as she walked over the her bed.

Willow slept fitfully on the other, while their grandfather snored loudly on the couch. Zephyair flopped back on to her bed. She close her eyes and folded her hands on her stomach, crossing her legs at the ankle. After a few minutes of lying there in the dark, sleep finally took her.

A knock on the door became a rude awakening for Zephyair. She forced her eyes open, the light blinding her for a moment. Sitting up and opening her eyes, she noticed the room service had brought up breakfast. ‘Nothing for me obviously,’ she complained mentally as her stomach growled. ‘Great.’

She got of the bed and went to the washroom. Just as she suspected there was no brush and her hair was a mess. Not a single brush was to be seen. ‘Perfect. I guess I’ll improvise.’ She pulled her fingers through her hair until she deemed it good enough. She left the washroom and found her grandfather and Willow eating the food that had been brought up for them. Zephyair hadn’t eaten since yesterday. She did the calculations in her head, ‘Almost eighteen hours. Not good.’ Her stomach growled loudly and Willow turned her head in Zephyair’s direction.

"Hungry? Great, now I’ll have to cover my neck," she said.

"Not funny..," Zephyair retorted.

"To bad you can’t eat this. Its so good."

"Shut up you’re making me even more hungry."

"Uh oh."

"Shut up."

Zephyair lft the room. She felt her pocket for her wallet and pulled it out too count how much money she had. ‘Enough. Barely enough,’ she thought.

 

Tomato juice, the one thing that fooled a vampire’s brain and stomach into think it was drinking blood. Zephyair bought a six-pack of V-8 at the local supermarket and went back to the hotel. She took out a bottle and put the rest in the fridge. ‘At least this will hold it off until I can get the real stuff.’ She sighed and sat down on the couch. Her grandfather talked rapidly with someone on the phone. Most likely someone cleaning the house or an officer. It didn’t matter. She just wanted to go home. Back to her home, back to her room and back to her own bed. Not the hotel ones, they weren’t comfortable. The patterns on the walls made her dizzy and the sounds of the cars and other things distracted her. The smell of the city disgusted her. Gasoline, garbage, and the smell of rotting zombies. They lie where they die, left out in the open for the carrion birds and carnivores.

‘At least we bury the ones we kill,’ she thought.

"We’ll be able to go home tomorrow," her grandfather said, snapping her out of her ranting trance.

"Yes, just what I wanted," she said.

"I don’t think I’ll be able to stay there for any length of time," Willow said.

"Don’t worry. I’ll sell the house and buy one inside the city walls," her grandfather said.

"I don’t like the city," complained Zephyair.

"I know you don’t. You never have."

 

Two days passed. The house was already sold and its old inhabitants had packed upor sold their belongs and moved into a smaller house in Shore City.

Another day passed. Zephyair and Willow had to walk to school. Zephyair had recived nothing from anyone, accept from friends and a few teachers who gave her their sympathies.

"I wish they’d stop already," she said as she walked home with Aven.

"Why? The teachers went easy on you and every in your classes for homework," he said.

"Doesn’t matter, I still missed Monday and that just adds to what I was given today. Think you could sneak over and help m catch up?"

"Maybe. Especially now that I live only a block away."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Half an hour later Aven showed up on Zephyair’s doorstep. Willow looked around the corner from the living room into the entrance. "Ooooo...Zeph invited a boyfriend over."

"He’s just gonna help me with my homework.," she said

"Help you with CHEMISTRY??!!"

"Ewww, just go back to the show you were watching before he got here." She pushed Willow’s head back around the corner and grabbed Aven’s hand, pulling him towards her basement bedroom.

"What do you mean ‘Ewww’? I’m not gross or anything, am I?" he asked.

"You’re my friend. Almost like the brother I’ve never had," she replied and it was true to her, Aven was a brother.

"So let’s get started on this shall we?"

"Yes and get it out of the way and done with."

The next three hours were spent on homework. It would have lasted longer if Aven wasn’t called on his cell phone, scolded and told to come home.

Author's Note

Tell if there's any spelling errors or grammar problems.

Reviews

[Drow]

There are bunches of spelling/grammar mistakes, but other than that the basics seem fine. You have a great style! I can't wait to see more!
Keep writing!
(If you'd like, I could go over it at school for you)